Orofacial Pain/Oral Medicine Center, Division of Diagnostic Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Sleep Breath. 2010 Dec;14(4):353-8. doi: 10.1007/s11325-009-0318-7. Epub 2009 Dec 8.
The narrowest area of the airway between the posterior nasal opening and the epiglottis is usually located in the retro palatal area. Many consider this the most likely site of airway obstruction during an obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) event. The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in soft palate and airway length between OSA and non-OSA patients.
In this study, we analyzed the ratio of the soft palate and the upper airway length in 45 consecutive patients. Twenty-five had an Apnea-Hypoapnea Index of more than five events per hour and were classified in the OSA group (male, 19; female, 6). These patients were compared with 20 normal controls (male, 12; female, 8). Controls who complained of snoring did have sleep studies (n=5). The other fifteen controls were clinically asymptomatic and did not have sleep studies. Medical computed tomography scans were taken to determine the length of the upper airway and the soft palate length measured in the midsagittal image.
Soft palate length was significantly larger in OSA patients compared to controls (p=0.009), and in men compared to women (p=0.002). However, there were no differences in airway length. The soft palate length, as a percent of oropharyngeal airway length, was significantly larger in OSA patients compared to controls (p= <0.0001) and in men compared to women (p=0.02). Soft palate length increases significantly with age by 0.3 mm per year in males (after adjustment for body mass index (BMI) and OSA). Soft palate length as a percent of airway length is larger in OSA patients and increases significantly with BMI in males only after adjusting for age.
In this study, OSA patients had a longer soft palate in proportion to their oropharyngeal airway compared to controls as well as men compared to women. This proportion could be used for identifying patients at risk for OSA in combination with age.
鼻后孔与会厌之间气道最狭窄的部位通常位于硬软腭交界区。许多人认为这是阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停（OSA）事件中气道阻塞最有可能的部位。本研究旨在探讨 OSA 患者与非 OSA 患者的软腭和气道长度的差异。
本研究分析了 45 例连续患者的软腭和上气道长度的比例。25 例患者每小时呼吸暂停低通气指数超过 5 次，分为 OSA 组（男 19 例，女 6 例）。这些患者与 20 例正常对照（男 12 例，女 8 例）进行比较。有打鼾症状的对照组进行了睡眠研究（n=5）。另外 15 例对照组患者临床无症状且未进行睡眠研究。进行医学计算机断层扫描以确定上气道长度，并在正中矢状图像上测量软腭长度。
与对照组相比，OSA 患者的软腭长度明显更大（p=0.009），男性比女性更大（p=0.002）。然而，气道长度没有差异。与对照组相比，OSA 患者的软腭长度占口咽气道长度的百分比明显更大（p<0.0001），男性比女性更大（p=0.02）。男性软腭长度每年增加 0.3 毫米，与年龄呈正相关（调整体质量指数（BMI）和 OSA 后）。只有在调整年龄后，男性的软腭长度占气道长度的比例在 OSA 患者中更大，并且随着 BMI 的增加而显著增加。
在这项研究中，与对照组相比，OSA 患者的软腭在其口咽气道中所占的比例更大，男性比女性更大。在结合年龄的情况下，这一比例可用于识别 OSA 高危患者。
